International Journal of Fuzzy Logic Systems (IJFLS) Vol.

3, No2, April 2013

APPLICATION OF FUZZY LOGIC TO VISUAL EXAMINATION IN THE ASSESSMENT OF SULPHATE ATTACK ON CEMENT BASED MATERIALS
Alok Verma1, Mukesh Shukla2 and Anil Kumar Sahu1
1

Department of Civil Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, INDIA

alokverma_dce@hotmail.com
2

Bundelkhand Institute of Engineering & Technology, Jhansi, U.P., INDIA

ABSTRACT
Sulphate attack on cement based materials has been widely taken up in research studies focusing on aggressive environmental conditions. Visual observations are considered as an important first step to assess the performance of the materials under the severity of the involved conditions. Correlations of visual observations (supported by other tests, during controlled laboratory experiments) and conditions in the field are essential to assess the performance of materials in the field. Due to uncertainties in the determination of various performance related parameters in the field, a rigid reliance on the results of visual examination conducted in the laboratory is not possible. This paper considers some aspects related to visual observations concerning the performance assessment of cement based materials under sulphate attack conditions in the field. Through a theoretical study it explores the use of fuzzy logic in analysing how much reasonable confidence should be placed on visual observations as well as in determining relative importance of various parameters.

KEYWORDS
Visual observations, Visual ratings, Concrete, Sulphate attack, Deterioration, Fuzzy logic

1. INTRODUCTION
Sulphate attack, constituting a major risk of chemical aggression for concrete and other building materials, has been taken up vigorously in the research studies [1]. It is reported that sulphate attack is difficult to measure because it is the result of a complex set of chemical processes and there is still a lot of controversy about the mechanism of such attack [2]. Samples of cement based building materials, such as mortar and concrete, are exposed to artificially created sulphate environments and are tested in laboratories [3]. While the results of these short-term accelerated tests help to give due indication of the likely performance of such materials in field conditions, these methods are criticized on many counts. They are perceived to change the attack mechanism and make it differ from the one which exists in the field under consideration [3]. Sometimes, laboratory tests may not simulate the conditions in the field correctly [4]. Visual examination of specimens is very important in such tests to correlate laboratory and field conditions [4-15]. Usually cubical samples of concrete or cement mortar of various specifications are kept in different types of aggressive acidic or alkaline solutions in laboratory for some time. These aggressive solutions model aggressive environmental conditions in which actual structures made of concrete or cement mortar, exist. Effects of such aggressive solutions on these laboratory samples are observed visually. These effects may be in the form of Appearance of fine cracks on
DOI : 10.5121/ijfls.2013.3204 49

International Journal of Fuzzy Logic Systems (IJFLS) Vol.3, No2, April 2013

the surface of specimen [16], formation of subsurface cracks [17], spalling of surface material [6,18,19], crazing [20], blistering of surface [18,21], expansion in length [18], loosening of material [19], corner cracking combined with transverse surface cracks [6], swelling of corners [22], a complete breakdown of samples [16], appearance of soft pulpy mass of mortar [4,16], debonding of matrix from aggregate particles [19], extreme distress [6], onion peeling type degradation of samples [23], change in colour [19], erosion of faces [18,21], softening of external layer of mortar specimen [16], loss of cohesion of mortar [7], formation of gypsum crystals [19,21,24], formation of efflorescence on the surface [19,21] and formation of mushy layer on the surface [25]. If sufficient data is available, durability state of a material in the field can be assessed by comparing the visual effects and the results of laboratory experiments to those observed in the field. In this direction, some visual ratings have been proposed under various conditions of laboratory tests. Visual rating of samples is given in order to find the most suitable and easiest way of detecting and quantifying damages occurring due to various effects [35]. These visual ratings categorise visual effects and link these effects to relative extent of damage in an aggressive environmental condition. Many visual ratings have been provided considering different grades of cement based materials and conditions of exposure to sulphate environments [2,6,8,9,12,13,16,17,20,34,36-49]. A ten point grading of various stages of damage for limestone cement mortars proposed in a study [31], is shown in Table 1. Visual rating 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Recorded effects from visual examination No visible deterioration Some deterioration at corners Deterioration at corners Deterioration at corners and some cracking along the edges Deterioration at corners and cracking along the edges Cracking and expansion Bulging of surfaces Extensive cracking and expansion Extensive spalling Complete damage
Table 1. Ten Point Grading

Without doubting the importance of visual examination in the assessment of sulphate attack, it has been reported that sole visual inspection can be misleading in some situations [26]. Therefore, visual observations are sometimes supported by advanced tests also [1,3,5,8,16,17,27-31,33,34]. Results of these tests and visual examination are correlated and calibrated with effects seen in actual structures.

2. RESEARCH SIGNIFICANCE
Visual examination is an important tool for the assessment of the effects of an aggressive environment on cement based materials and for interpreting the visual effects seen in the field. Still, the findings of the examination may not be treated as fully conclusive and final in view of many uncertainties. Though theoretically the use of visual ratings to assess the conditions and performance of materials should be an easy task, it is not so due to variations of conditions in respect of material composition & characteristics, site, exposure and other related aspects. Time variations of these factors in these combinations would make the exact correspondence of conditions and effects very difficult to be indicated. It has been reported that there is no universally accepted criterion for measuring failure of laboratory specimens exposed to sulphate [2-4,18]. Though it is simple to make visual observations in laboratory experiments of sulphate
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attack, it is difficult to rigidly correlate and apply the qualitative conclusions to field conditions [23,24]. In this connection, importance of longer term exposure is found necessary to obtain more realistic indications of durability for extended service life [44-47]. Importance of application of Fuzzy Logic system along with in interpreting results of laboratory visual examination in field conditions has been emphasized, in view of uncertainties of effects, varying conditions of tests in laboratory as well as in the field and nomenclature of visual effects [50]. Experiences from tests, already undertaken in the past, would be helpful in this respect [51-64]. Many factors are involved in the modelling of the sulphate aggressive environmental conditions and in the correlations between the laboratory and field conditions. It is important to have knowledge of relative importance of these factors as well as to determine how much confidence may be placed on the results of visual observations, made in the laboratory, in the assessment of durability of structures in the field environment. This study considers these issues with the help of fuzzy logic.

3. DETAILS OF STUDY
Fuzzy set theory was developed by Lotfi Zadeh in 1965 to deal with the imprecision and uncertainty often present in real-world applications [65]. It was subsequently further developed by Mamdani and several other researchers. Fuzzy system is a logical system, an extension of multi-valued logic, which is synonymous with the theory of fuzzy sets. The theory of fuzzy sets relates to the classes of objects with unsharp boundaries in which membership is a matter of degree. Similar types of conditions exist in the cases of visual examination of deterioration effects in the field and in the interpretation of field conditions such as sulphate exposure etc. In this study, it was intended to find out the accuracy of results obtained after visual examination conducted for sulphate attack on cement based materials. The accuracy is taken to be in terms of confidence which may be placed in the output (i.e., results of visual examination) when uncertainties exist in some parameters which may affect the determination of effects using some visual ratings. Three input parameters which may have uncertainties in their evaluation are considered. These are: Type of cation in the sulphate solution present in the ground water, quality of concrete and quality of visual observation. The quality of visual observation may be dependent on the expertise of an individual at the helm of affairs for assessing the effects of aggressive exposure on the cement based material. The output called, confidence, is treated to be an indicator of the confidence which can be placed on the correctness of the results. Mamdani type inference system in Matlab was used in this study. Three stages of accuracy of prediction in all the three input values & the output value were considered. Rules for deducing conclusions were written linking various stages of all the input and output parameters. The confidence in the output was increased by one degree if any two or more than two of the three input values were upgraded to a higher grade of accuracy. These input and output parameters, their stages and rules are provided in the fuzzy inference system, given below, which was used in the study. It is to be appreciated that various inputs are considered in terms of our confidence in knowing their values accurately. For example, the term severe may not always mean that the exposure is severe. As it is the third stage of the input parameter, it only shows that the exposure is known with certainty. Names of different stages connected with their input names were written only for the sake of easy identification. Otherwise, in a case of confusion three stages of all parameters may be considered as stage 1, 2 and 3, with 1, 2 and 3 showing less accuracy, average accuracy and good accuracy. In a way, this study tried to determine the accuracy of output (called, confidence) depending on the accuracy in the determination of three input parameters. Considering that a first idea at a time instant may influence visual observations, a triangular pattern of membership functions was chosen for it. Membership function for quality of concrete was chosen in the form of a gauss variation because of this form of variation for the strength of concrete in practice. The trapezoidal
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International Journal of Fuzzy Logic Systems (IJFLS) Vol.3, No2, April 2013

pattern was chosen for the output. For exposure conditions, it was taken to be trapezoidal considering it to be in-between the triangular and Gaussian types of variation. For any parameter a value 0 meant complete uncertainty and 1 a very good accuracy. Figure 1 shows the interlinking of input, rules and the output.

Figure 1. Interlinking of Inputs, Rules and Output in the Fuzzy System

Fuzzy Inference System used in the study is given below. Name='visual5-2' Type='mamdani' Version=2.0 NumInputs=3 NumOutputs=1 NumRules=18 AndMethod='min' OrMethod='max' ImpMethod='min' AggMethod='max' DefuzzMethod='centroid' [Input1] Name='visual_observation' Range=[0 1] NumMFs=3 MF1='obs_type_1':'trimf',[-0.5 0 0.368] MF2='obs_type_2':'trimf',[0 0.5 1] MF3='obs_type_3':'trimf',[0.705 1 1.5] [Input2] Name='type_of_cation_and_exposure'
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International Journal of Fuzzy Logic Systems (IJFLS) Vol.3, No2, April 2013

Range=[0 1] NumMFs=3 MF1='mild':'trapmf',[-0.45 -0.05 0.05 0.34] MF2='moderate':'trapmf',[0.05 0.45 0.55 0.95] MF3='severe':'trapmf',[0.692 0.95 1.05 1.45] [Input3] Name='quality_of_concrete_in_field' Range=[0 1] NumMFs=3 MF1='poor':'gaussmf',[0.2123 0] MF2='average_quality':'gaussmf',[0.2123 0.5] MF3='good_quality':'gaussmf',[0.2123 1] [Output1] Name='confidence' Range=[0 1] NumMFs=3 MF1='poor_confidence':'trapmf',[-0.45 -0.05 0.05 0.395] MF2='average_confidence':'trapmf',[0.05 0.45 0.55 0.95] MF3='good_confidence':'trapmf',[0.648 0.974 1.07 1.47] [Rules] 1 1 1, 1 (1) : 1 1 2 2, 2 (1) : 1 1 2 3, 2 (1) : 1 1 3 2, 2 (1) : 1 2 1 1, 1 (1) : 1 2 2 1, 1 (1) : 1 2 1 2, 1 (1) : 1 2 2 2, 2 (1) : 1 2 2 3, 2 (1) : 1 2 3 2, 2 (1) : 1 2 3 3, 3 (1) : 1 3 1 1, 1 (1) : 1 3 2 1, 1 (1) : 1 3 1 2, 1 (1) : 1 3 2 2, 2 (1) : 1 3 3 2, 2 (1) : 1 3 2 3, 2 (1) : 1 3 3 3, 3 (1) : Membership functions showing different stages of the input and output parameters are shown in Figure 2.

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International Journal of Fuzzy Logic Systems (IJFLS) Vol.3, No2, April 2013

Figure 2. Membership Functions Showing Different Stages of the Input and Output Parameters 54

International Journal of Fuzzy Logic Systems (IJFLS) Vol.3, No2, April 2013

Considering the eighteen rules which were created for determining the output variable, different extent of uncertainty namely, 0, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, were considered for each input parameter in combination with other values of other parameters. A particular result, obtained from ruleview of Matlab, is shown in Figure 3. Confidence values for inputs and output confidence value are noted at the top of this figure.

Figure 3. A Particular Result for Confidence in Result

A surface view diagram of relationship of confidence with the input parameters is shown in Figure 4. In such a diagram, only two input parameters may be considered with the output at a time.

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International Journal of Fuzzy Logic Systems (IJFLS) Vol.3, No2, April 2013

Figure 4. Relationship of Parameters

In the above relationship shown, more than one input value had a variation. Still, it can be readily seen from the surface view diagram in Figure 4 that all the input factors should have high confidence values for getting a good output confidence value. To see the effect of individual variations in input values on the output value, each input value was varied, one by one, to 75%, 50%, 25% and 0% from its maximum value of 1. Here, exact values were not taken and intentionally values close to particular percentage values were taken to emphasise the fuzziness of input parameters. Table 2 shows the input values taken. Varied values of inputs have been shown bold and underlined. Output values were determined using the fuzzy tool box of Matlab 5.3. Value of Input 1 0.958 0.741 0.500 0.253 0.030 0.958 0.958 0.958 0.958 0.958 0.958 0.958 0.958 0.958 0.958 Value of Input 2 0.982 0.982 0.982 0.982 0.982 0.982 0.747 0.506 0.259 0.026 0.982 0.982 0.982 0.982 0.982 Value of Input 3 0.959 0.959 0.959 0.959 0.959 0.959 0.959 0.959 0.959 0.959 0.959 0.747 0.518 0.276 0.0235 Value of output 0.761 0.728 0.766 0.718 0.521 0.761 0.525 0.500 0.491 0.187 (Minimum) 0.761 0.572 0.505 0.500 0.500

Table 2. Input and Output Values

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International Journal of Fuzzy Logic Systems (IJFLS) Vol.3, No2, April 2013

Variations in output value are shown in Figure 5. It shows the effect of type of variation chosen for an input parameter. The case of variation in sulphate exposure, which is considered in terms of a trapezoidal shape, gives the minimum values out of these variations. This happens to be the parameter which may not be visible unless some information pertaining to this aspect is readily available or some tests are carried out in the determination of exposure. At the same time, as is clear from Table 8, lesser confidence about this input parameter would be more detrimental to the output confidence. This aspect of determination of relative importance of various factors, in durability studies concerning cement based materials with the help of fuzzy logic seems very useful in the field of maintenance of constructed facilities.
VARIATION OF CONFIDENCE FOR CHANGE IN ONE INPUT PARAMETER AT A TIME
0.9 0.8

VALUE OF OUTPUT

0.7 0.6 0.5 0.4 0.3 0.2 0.1 0 1 2 3 4 5

CASE NUMBER
Output ( input 1) Output ( input 2) Output ( input 3)

Figure 5. Variation of confidence for Change in One Input at a Time

In addition to the above, a definite variation in the accuracy of input parameters (ranging from 0 to 1, with a step size of 0.1, applied to all the three input parameters one by one) was taken and variation in the output confidence was calculated with the help of Matlab. A relationship of variations among the input and output parameters is given in Figure 6.
VARIATION OF CONFIDENCE WITH INPUT PARAMETERS
1.2

y = 0.013x + 0.312 R = 0.862

1

VALUE FOR INPUT AND OUTPUT

0.8

0.6

0.4

0.2

0 1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27

CASE NUMBER
input 1 input2 input3 output confidence Linear (output confidence)

Figure 6. Relationship of Variations Among Input and Output Parameters

The value of output confidence increases with increases taking place in input values one by one. In the middle region of the output curve, there is a flat portion (from case number 10 to 18) where
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International Journal of Fuzzy Logic Systems (IJFLS) Vol.3, No2, April 2013

the output value varied in a very narrow range, from 0.4856 to 0.501. This flat portion applied for input values set [0.4, 0.4, 0.4] to [0.7, 0.7, 0.6]. This indicated that for getting a high value of output confidence it is important to have all input confidence values crossing a threshold value. The lower threshold of this range seems to be defined by a value of 0.4 for all input values while the upper threshold of this range is defined by a value of 0.7 happening atleast for two input values. After this range, the output confidence improves and achieves the highest value of 0.8008 when all the input parameters were assigned a value of 1. Consideration of the fact that a value of 1.0 for output confidence is not achieved even when this value of 1.0 is allotted to all the input values may indicate that there may be definitely a fuzzy nature in output confidence even when definite values are taken for the input, depending on the nature of membership functions and the fuzzy rules considered for interpreting various conditions.

4. CONCLUSION
The following conclusions may be drawn from this study involving the use of fuzzy logic considerations to visual observations in assessing the performance of cement based materials under sulphate attack. 1. 2. To have a high confidence in output all the input factors should have high confidence values. It means that knowledge about input factors should be good to have a good result. Relative importance of various input factors may be determined with the help of fuzzy logic considerations. For example, minimum values of output confidence were achieved in the case of variation of input value for sulphate exposure, which was considered in terms of a trapezoidal shape. Shape of membership function chosen for the input parameter plays an important role in such determination. This aspect of determination of relative importance of various factors, in durability studies concerning cement based materials with the help of fuzzy logic seems very useful in the field of maintenance of constructed facilities. The study reveals that for getting a high value of output confidence it is important to have all input confidence values crossing a threshold value. It may be concluded that output confidence can not be improved if even a single input parameter happens to be showing a low value of confidence attached to it. Consideration of the fact that a value of 1.0 for output confidence is not achieved even when this value of 1.0 is allotted to all the input values may indicate that there may be definitely a fuzzy nature in output confidence even when definite values are taken for the input, depending on the nature of membership functions and the fuzzy rules considered for interpreting various conditions. Various ratings followed in laboratory studies have some differences based on chosen parameters. A broad rating system based on extensive data, acquired in the past experiments, should be created with clearly marked effects and necessary explanations. This may be followed by the research community to help a clear interpretation and comparison of results.

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5.

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AUTHORS Alok Verma is an Associate Professor in Civil Engineering at Delhi Technological University, Delhi (India). His research interests include durability of cement based materials, mathematical analysis of random phenomena and effect of earthquakes on structures.

Mukesh Shukla, a Ph.D in Structural Engineering, is Director of a prestigious engineering institute at Ujjain, in the state of Madhya Pradesh in India. His research interests include durability of concrete and ferrocement structures.

A. K. Sahu is a Professor in Civil Engineering at Delhi Technological University, Delhi (India). His research interests include durability of concrete and masonry structure

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